Business Research Methods

1
Business Research Methods

• Lecture 2 Searching for An idea?

2
Business Research Methods

• Aims
• To outline how using the library and the Internet
  can help you search for literature.
• To help in determining a suitable topic

3
Reading
Saunders chapter 3 Hart 2001 Doing a Literature
Search Gash 200 Effective Literature Searching
for Research
4
Why? Purpose of searching the literature.

• 2 areas of literature to be searched (Hart 2001)
• Literature relevant to topic
• Literature on research methodology and data
  collection
• Reasons
• Help identify work already done
• Prevent duplication
• Help avoid errors of previous research
• Help you design methodology
• Help find gaps in existing research find out
  what already works

5
Before you start define your topic

• Brainstorm
• Look at newspaper articles
• What are you interested in? Come up with 3 ideas
  now?
• Spider diagram
• When you have a topic relevance trees
• Think about the limits of topic
• Think about whether you have specific sources to
  look for (fishing) or more general (trawling)

6
Where to look for ideas?

• What are the key debates in an area you are
  interested in?
• Journalshttp//www.internationaljournalofadvertisi
  ng.com/KeyDebates.aspx
• News papershttp//www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009
  /jan/20/wetherspoon-cheap-pints
• Prior knowledge
• Text books

7
High street names suffer in cash squeeze and
smoke ban February 05 2008 adapted from an
article in The Guardian British bar operator
Regent Inns and Carpetright reported falling
sales yesterday in a continuing squeeze on high
street spending. Carpetright, the UK's biggest
carpet seller, said sales in its 650 shops in the
UK, Ireland and continental Europe started
strongly in the third quarter but then slumped.
Like-for-like sales in the UK and Ireland fell by
4 in the three months to the end of January,
after a 3.4 drop in the previous six months.
Analysts had forecast a 1 rise. "In an
increasingly challenging environment sales growth
will be harder to come by, but I am confident
that our businesses are well positioned in their
markets and I expect our full-year out-turn to be
in line with expectations. Regent Inns, which
runs Walkabout bars and Jongleurs comedy clubs,
said yesterday that like-for-like sales fell
nearly 4 in the first half of its year, with
tough trading conditions due to weakening
consumer spending and the smoking ban. The firm,
which has recently become the object of a
takeover approach, reported a 66 fall in pre-tax
profits to 1.23m in the first half. "As soon as
the weather changes and it becomes cold and wet,
it becomes more difficult. The smoking ban has
a greater impact than people felt it would do,"
said Bob Ivell, chief executive. "Consumers are
also feeling the pinch in mortgages and costs
going up ... We have seen a bit of a downturn
with consumers at high street retails and bars.
We are all finding it more difficult. Shares in
the company, which have lost 80 of their value
since bad summer trading for pubs five months
ago, were down 1.5p at 17.5p. The trading
statement echoed those of other pub companies,
such as Greene King, which have also blamed the
smoking ban and higher interest rates for falling
sales.
8
(No Transcript)
9
Take the issue of how managers might deal with
the change in regulation (smoking and licence
hours and the need to deal with economic crisis)

• Who will it affect (staff / managers / bar staff/
  bouncers/ customers / others?)
• What might be worth researching?
• Training
• Economic issues
• Employment issues look to the literature to
  find what has already been done for ideas
• Marketing customer focus
• Strategic issues - planning

10
Literature sources available
Secondary
Tertiary
Primary
Reports Theses Emails Conference
proceedings Company reports Unpublished
manuscripts Some gov pubs
Indexes Abstracts Catalogues Encyclopaedias Dictio
naries Bibliographies Citation indexes Search
engines
Books Journals Newspapers Some government pubs
Increasing level of detail
Increasing time to publish
11
Trawl

• Encyclopaedias
• Search engines
• Abstracts
• What are the keywords?
• Consider broader / narrower terms in case the
  first search produces too few / too many results
• Define the topic
• Bouncers and employment
• Alternatives
• Economy - Pubs and clubs
• Smoking ban and licence hours
• Training

12
Encyclopaedias

• Wikipedia

13
Google scholar searches linked on
www.google.co.uk

• Looks specifically for academic material
  citations to books, articles etc.
• Total coverage unknown not know how up-to date
• OK for a first look but need to look in
  databases

14
(No Transcript)
15
(No Transcript)
16
(No Transcript)
17
(No Transcript)
18
(No Transcript)
19
(No Transcript)
20
(No Transcript)
21
(No Transcript)
22
Databases trawling looking for articles by topic

• Try some databases
• Index
• Index with abstract
• Full Text
• Business Source Premier over 8,000 sources
  (hidden under EBSCOHost databases heading if
  you login at ATHENS)
• Emerald (100 journals all from the same
  publisher)

23
(No Transcript)
24
(No Transcript)
25
What words do you put in the database search box?

• Think about your search words that describe your
  search topic before you search dont miss
  alternative words
• may have to split up your topic into keywords of
  short phrases and link these together with
  operators

26
Boolean search operators

• And result contain both terms will help
  you narrow a search, e.g. violence and bouncers
• OR results contain either term will help
  you broaden a search, e.g. training or violence
• Not results contain 1st term but not 2nd
  will help you exclude unwanted material, e.g.
  violence not criminal

27
Search tips

• Think before you switch on
• Read help screens
• Be prepared to re-do your search several times to
  get it right (quicker than reading through
  hundreds of article titles!)

28
WWW

• Search engines
• AOL Search
• Fast Search
• Google
• Smartlogic

29
Tips for effective searching

• Use distinctive words and phrases
• Look before you leap
• Dont look beyond second screen of hits
• Refine your search on one search engine, then mop
  up on the others
• Bookmark queries (ODochartaigh 2002)

30
On line

• UK government
• Department of Work and Pensions
• National Statistics
• CEHR

31
Charitable Trusts
32
Professional Associations

• CIPD
• CIM

33
Media / Newspapers on line
Financial Times Guardian Times BBC.co.uk Channel4.
com
34
Fishing when you know the title / author

• Library
• Books

35
Fishing

• Journal articles
• Go to library home page
• To find specific article look under
• Subject directory then business or HR or
  Marketing - then electronic journals
• E-Journals A-Z listing
• Locate an Article using a reference

36
(No Transcript)
37
Dont believe all that you read!

• Judging and scepticism
• Gatekeepers
• Authority
• Respect
• Evaluation
• Accuracy
• Objectivity
• Currency

38
Recording

• Some use specialist computer programmes
• Some use card index
• Some keep lists
• Windows 2007 referencing section
• Endnotes can help when you start writing

39
Summarise

• Come up with an idea then search properly but
  the process can help you decide
• Thinking is important so spend some time refining
  ideas
• Evaluate what you find your work is only going
  to be as good as the reading you do and the
  thinking that comes from that reading